Thoughts on today's Christian world and how it fits into secular society.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Peace; is it possible?

The peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid (John 14:21, NIV).

God's peace is different from the world's peace.

A former president of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and historians from England, Egypt, Germany, and India have come up with some startling information.

They say that in the more than 5,600 years since 3600 B.C., the world has known only 292 years of peace!

During this period there have been 14,351 wars, large and small, in which 3.64 billion people have been killed. The value of the property destroyed would pay for a golden belt around the world 97.2 miles wide and 33 feet thick.

Since 650 B.C. there have also been 1656 arms races, only 16 of which have not ended in war. The remainder ended in the economic collapse of the countries involved.

The Personnel Journal reported only slightly better statistics, saying that since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time! In its study, the periodical discovered that in excess of 8,000 peace treaties have been made -- and broken. Peace treaties signed by people who really do not want peace are worth about the cost of the paper they are written on.

In addition to national wars, in every nation's cities and villages, men, women and even children war with each other, often killing and maiming each other, often within the same families.

We live in a world without peace. Yet, paradoxically, God's Word repeatedly tells us to be at peace and to have peace. What is the answer?

Someone has said, "Safety consists not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God." You could also say, "Peace consists not in the absence of conflict but in the presence of God."

For believers, God's presence is always with us, and in us. Peace is a fruit of the indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

How does one appropriate God's peace? "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26:3, KJV).